In addition to the existence of isoenzymes of liver, alcohol dehydrogenase, a genetic polymorphism, is observed in humans. Individuals of the "atypical" phenotype have been shown to represent the heterozygotes of this genetic trait. The influence of the type of alcohol dehydrogenase on the production of acetaldehyde and the pattern of the deaminated products of biogenic amines during acute alcohol intoxication is studied. Biogenic aldehydes are further metabolized by various isoenzymes of aldehyde reductase and dehydrogenase. The intracellular and synaptosomal localization of these enzymes and their susceptibility to drugs such as anticonvulsives are under investigation. These studies provide the basis for a further investigation of the influence of alcohol and its metabolites and drugs on the fixation of biogenic aldehydes to neuronal components under various conditions in vivo. A new sensitive and accurate method for the determination of disulfiram and its metabolites diethyldithiocarbamate and carbon disulfide in patients treated with disulfiram implantates has been elaborated. Further experiments aim at finding whether blood levels of disulfiram and its metabolites, of ethanol and of acetaldehyde, correlate with the severity of some symptoms of the disulfiram-ethanol-reaction in patients during acute ethanol intoxication.